Section 56: Departure (Part I)

Cicely nervously twisted her fingers together. She stood up and sat down repeatedly, pacing back and forth across the room.

Ever since her return to Gaul City from the woods, her mind had been in turmoil. She had been avoiding Wei Wuji, terrified that he might insist on uncovering the truth. Yet, today, the secret she had guarded so desperately had been revealed to the one person she feared most.

As she paced, she worried about the confrontation between her parents in the forest. She was filled with dread, but things had reached a point where it was already too late. She could not help but sob softly, her large eyes swimming with tears and bewilderment. Even now, she could not understand why such a tragic fate had befallen her.

The image of Hegel rose before her eyes. Father? Lover? For a moment, Cicely felt as if her heart were being shredded. When it first happened, she had felt a mix of hatred for Hegel’s perversion and self-reproach, fueled by his sweet talk. She wondered if she were born wanton, attracting even her own father’s unwanted affections, and her heart was heavy with guilt toward her mother and Amango. Later, due to Hegel’s threats that the family would collapse if she did not stay by his side, the shame of her submission became inextricably tangled with a dark, burgeoning pleasure. She felt as though she had fallen into a devil’s abyss, for only the abyss could offer both pleasure and pain simultaneously.

Now that Madame Sera had suddenly exposed the truth, Cicely felt a strange sense of relief amidst her terror. Everything was finally coming to an end.

She sensed someone entering the room and looked up abruptly. Seeing Wei Wuji, she was startled, covering her lips with her slender fingers. "Mr. Wei, how did you get in? Are you still unwilling to let this go? Please, I beg you, leave at once and return to Amango."

Wei Wuji felt a bitter pang in his heart. He already had the answer, but now the problem was that he did not know how to tell this poor girl the truth.

Cicely steadied herself, suppressing her anxiety. Regardless of anything else, she hoped to get rid of Wei Wuji as quickly as possible. If Hegel and Madame Sera had indeed fallen out, she would bear the suffering alone. She still loved Amango, but she felt tainted; she believed her soul was destined for hell, and she could not harm another innocent young man. Furthermore, she harbored a selfish desire: for the man she had once adored, she hoped that when he remembered her, he would keep his original impression of her, never knowing her current reality.

Just as she was wondering how to phrase her next words, a soft voice called from the doorway: "Cicely..."

The call struck Cicely like a thunderclap. She looked up instinctively to see a weary-looking Madame Sera leaning against the doorframe. "Mother, you’ve returned... and you..."

Her expression shifted instantly, turning pale. She bit her lower lip so hard it threatened to bleed. Every carefully prepared excuse vanished. She looked from her mother at the door to Wei Wuji, and a thought even more terrifying than the rest began to take root.

"Cicely, I know everything," Wei Wuji said quietly. He still hadn't figured out how to talk to her. After Hegel died in the woods, he had immediately grabbed Madame Sera and fled. Grant had been occupied by the Third Enforcement Squad and could do nothing but watch them leave, venting his rage on the four agents instead.

Taking advantage of Grant being pinned down, Wei Wuji had rushed back to Gaul City with Madame Sera. He intended to take Cicely away. As for whether Amango would accept such an extraordinary situation, he did not know, but he believed his friend was a good man.

"Mr. Wei, could you step out for a moment? Let me talk to her," Madame Sera requested.

Wei Wuji nodded silently and turned to walk out. He still didn't know how to explain what had happened to her; perhaps her mother was better suited to offer comfort.

He closed the door behind him. This was a house with an independent courtyard, once the residence of a Gaul City noble, now allocated to weapons experts by the local government. Under normal circumstances, no outsiders would disturb them, provided Grant did not return in time.

Wei Wuji paced the courtyard a few times. The conversation inside showed no signs of ending. He did not use his heightened senses to eavesdrop; in times like these, knowing less was perhaps for the best.

He grew impatient. Grant could return at any moment, and time was running out. They had to leave the city before he came back; if Grant turned hostile over Hegel’s death, only Wei Wuji might escape, while the two women would surely be left behind.

Suddenly, a scream came from inside. Wei Wuji’s heart skipped a beat, and he rushed into the room. The two women were not in the outer chamber but the inner one. Madame Sera was on her knees before the bed, gripping a dagger tightly, letting blood drip from between her fingers. She had used her own hands to intercept a suicide attempt.

Cicely held the dagger, looking utterly drained. Her hand still gripped the hilt, the tip of the blade having pierced her chest. Fortunately, her mother had caught the blade with her bare hands. Perhaps because she realized she would have to cut through her mother’s hands to continue, Cicely had stopped.

"How could this happen?" Wei Wuji cried out in shock. He hurried forward to snatch the dagger away. Extending his fingers, golden light shimmered as he traced several runes, weaving them together into a snake-like stream that burrowed into Cicely’s wound. Pure vital energy seeped in, rapidly staunching the blood and knitting the flesh.

"I... I told her that man was not her father, but a demon who had possessed her father's body, so she no longer needed to be troubled by it. I urged her to leave with you, that Amango is waiting for her in Valencia," Madame Sera said, her voice choked with grief. "She was shocked at first, then, after understanding the truth about the travelers, she became very calm. I thought she had agreed. She said she wanted to change her clothes and went into the inner room. I waited a while, and when she didn't come out, I sensed something was wrong. Thank goodness I was in time."

Wei Wuji frowned, a hint of anger in his voice. "Why go to such lengths? That man is dead; I saw it with my own eyes."

He was just about to offer further comfort when his body jolted. He turned sharply to see someone standing at the threshold of the room. The man looked slightly weary, but his figure remained as imposing as a mountain.